Nozzle needles are known for injectors for injecting fuel into cylinder combustion chambers of an internal combustion engine, which have a guide portion. The guide portion here has guide surfaces which are separated from each other by recesses. The guide surfaces serve to lie on an inner face of the nozzle body of the injector and guide the nozzle needle in its stroke movement. The recesses are provided to allow fuel to flow by, along the nozzle needle in the nozzle body, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the nozzle needle. The recesses are normally oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the nozzle needle and are usually formed in the nozzle needle by ground grooves or by removal of the circumferential surface into a three- or four-sided profile by material removal in a hard-machining process.